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Close calls in the war against tyranny

Dean Angstadt, 57, is a self-employed logger who needed life-saving heart surgery. He was also uninsured. An adamant skeptic of the Affordable Care Act, he waited until it was almost too late to sign up for private health insurance.

At the behest of a very insistent liberal friend he finally enrolled for a plan that started March 1st. His first month’s premium was $26.11. The surgery happened thirty days later. From reporter Robert Calandra:

“I probably would have ended up falling over dead” without the surgery, Angstadt said. “Not only did it save my life, it’s going to give me a better quality of life.”

Angstadt faces a long recovery, but his conversion to ACA supporter is done. The political storm around the ACA, he said, is the political parties “fighting each other over things that can benefit people.”

“For me, this isn’t about politics,” he added. “I’m trying to help other people who are like me, stubborn and bullheaded, who refused to even look. From my own experience, the ACA is everything it’s supposed to be and, in fact, better than it’s made out to be.”

He has also thanked his good friend, Leinhauser, for caring enough to persuade him to buy insurance and have the surgery.

Health care reform opponents should probably forgive Angstadt. I imagine it’s difficult to choose the dulcet tones of talk radio and eye candy of Facebook meme posts when facing death or crippling debt. We can’t all be soldiers in the war against chip implants and death panels.